Transformers: Generation One, Volume 3.1, Book 1

This volume corresponds to the first issue of Dreamwave's Transformers: Generation One Vol. 3, originally titled "Night of the Combaticons" (rendered by the Sailian fan-translation group as "Night of the Combatrons"). It opens the serial following the previous G1 series, "War and Peace," with the story spanning two battlefronts, Earth and Cybertron. On Earth, Starscream leads the Combaticons, who combine into the giant warrior Bruticus, and their assault nearly wipes out the Autobots under Jazz, with only Ratchet and Ironhide escaping. Wounded, the two retreat to the Ark, dodging its out-of-control automated defenses while discovering that a large number of captured Decepticons are imprisoned aboard. On Cybertron, two Decepticons, the "Sports Car Brothers," ransack Shockwave's laboratory and inadvertently awaken a glowing figure sealed in a stasis pod; it downs them both, breaks out, and flies straight into space. Ironhide sends a distress signal to Bumblebee, who is leading a small squad toward Earth aboard the supply ship Orion, but Bruticus cuts the signal off. Bruticus storms the Ark and frees the imprisoned Soundwave, Skywarp, and Thundercracker; Ratchet triggers the self-destruct sequence, and the Ark is destroyed. Starscream berates Bruticus for destroying the base, then downs Ironhide and Ratchet. In low orbit, the Orion runs headlong into the mysterious glowing figure—the newly introduced character Sunstorm. This is Book 1 of the series (seven books in this set's contents, including Book 0, the preview issue).